Grain-car door.



Llm;%&* v v PatentedMm: 28,1916.

' W. W. GREEN.

GRAIN CAR DOOR. A'PPuc'ATmN FILVED MAR. 4. 191 s.

' SHEETS-SHEET l.

Witnesses W. W. GREEN.

GRAIN CAR DOOR. '1

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4.1915. 5 I 1.1?6,%8. 1 Patented Mar. 28,1916.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

=ll'l i IiI IIIHL IHII J WALTER WLGE EN; oE-wme, ILLINOIS.

- GRAIN-can. noon.

To all whom it may concern; 7

Be it lmown that I, WALTna GREEN,

' a citizen of the United States, .residing at 2 novel formfof auxiliarydoofcpristituting.a'

I tionand arrangement of parts and in the- Grain-Car Wing, in the county of. Livingston and State of Illinois, We invented a new and 'useful Door, of which the following-is a specification.

v hThe device formirig the subject matterof -t is application is a grain car door, and the invention aims primarily, to PIOVIdG a flexible door of'novel form, adapted forilse on a graincar.

' In addition to improving. the specific 0011 struction of the door, the, invention aims to pro'videnovel-means for actuating the door,-

forsupporting the door" while the same'is being-raised and lowered, and to provide a part of the door. proper.

It is within the sc'ope'o f the-disclosure to improve generally and'to enhance the utility ofzdevices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and otherbbjects invie wi which-will appear as the description proceed's, the invention resides in .--the"c'ombinadetails of construction hereinafter described andclaimed,

it being understood that 'ehanges in' the precise embodiment of 'the' inv'ention herein disclosedcan be made within .the scope of what-is claimed, withtio'n. In the accompanying drawings F'1gure. 1 shows the invention in front elevation; Fig.

2 a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig.

3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmental vertical section'showing a portion of the door; Fig.

elevation showing a portion of the actuating. mechanism whereby the door is operated and controlled; Fig. 6 is: a detail of the hinge union whereby the auxiliary door is operatively connected with the main door; Fig. 7 isa fragmental end elevation ofthe door actuating means.

In I carrying out the present invention there is provided a supporting structure which may be in the form of a grain. car, onewall of which is denoted by the numeral 1, a

the wall 1 being-provided with a doorway 2. One of the longitudinal roof beams of the car is shown at 3 and another of the longitudinalheams appears at 4,

Specification of Letters katent.

"stop pawl 8 pivotally wheel of a plurality out departing from 'the spirit of the inven-.

5 is a fragmental Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

Application fiiea irarch 4, i915. seria No. 12944.

Dep'endiiigbearings 5 are secured t o the beam- 3. and in thefbearings 5 is journaled for rotation an actuating shaft 6 provided w1th.;a ratchet'wheel7 engaged by. a back carriedbyia support 9 attached-to the beam}, as clearly disclosed inFig. 5'.- Securedtothe shaft 6 is a ratchet wheel-10. Mounted to' swing on the shaft 6 is a U-'shaped yoke 11 in'closing the ratchet 10, the lowerportion of the yoke 11 b'eing'contracted to form arms 12 support ..ing a pivot element I l on which is mounted to 'sw1ng;a lever 15' provided at its upper end "with. an integrally formed pawl .16- which .coaets'with the ratchet'wheel-- 10 to {actuate thesalne and the shaft ."The door proper which controls the door-' way 2 is a flexible structure and is made up of transverse panels. 17 preferablyfashioned-from metal. .Thelower edge 'of any panel '17, 'eons'idered as an upper panel, is'bentupon itself as shown at'18: to

form a hook-shaped socket l9. in' .whi ch 'the upper-edge of the next lower panel is loosely received." jMounted on the panels .17 [are hinge elements 20 which are offset as" shown at 21 to clearithe socketsj19. The ofi'se't porI- tions 21 of the hinge elements20 are united "by pivotl elements-22. The, constituent slats or panels 17 of the door maybereinforced upon their inner, faces by longitudinal bat tens 23. Chains 34: or other flexible .el'ements areiprovided, the upper ends of the cha'ins34 being wound around the actuating shaft 6, the --'chains being' extended down wardly along the front of the flexible-door, and thelower' ends of the chains being secured to the lowermost panel'l'7 of the doorr Mounted upon the roof beams 4 or otherwise supported are lateral open'tracks 24, preferably in the'form of channels, the for-I Ward ends of the tracks '24 being down wardly curved clearly shownat 25. When the. lowermost panel 17 ofth e-flexible deer] rests upon the" floor 26 of the car, the uppermost panel. of the flexible door lies in the curved, downwardly extended. ends 25 of the tracks.

In one of the panels 17 adjacent the lower end of the flexible door thereis interposed an-auxiliary door 27, the lower edge of which is bent as shown at 28 to form a hookshaped socket 29 engaged with the. upper edge of the lowermost panel of the main door. Hinge elements 31 cooperate with v the auxiliary door 27 cooperate, with one of the panels 17 of the mam flexible door. The hinge elements 30 and 31 are provided with upright slots 32 receiving slldably, securing elements .33;

i mounted respectively in the'auxiliary door lever and 27 and in that slat 17 of the main'door. to' which the hinge elements 30 are applied.

In practical operation, the shaft 6 isfrotated by means of the ratchet wheel 7, the the pawl 16, the lever 15 tilt.-.

ing on the pivot element 14 and the yoke 12 swinging on the shaft 6. The chains 34 thus are reeled. onto the shaft 6 and the main door, comprising the panels 17 is elevated, the door moving upwardly and rearwardly into the tracks 24. The door is prevented the panels 17 from dropping downwardly, due to the engagement between the back stop pawl 8 and the ratchet wheel 7 on the shaft 6. As the main, flexible door traverses the curved portions 25-of the tracks 24, the upper edges of move sufliciently in the curved sockets 19 so that the door may have the necessary flexibility and transverse movement between its parts to enable the door .to cooperate with the tracks 24, the function of the hinges 20 21-22 being obvious.

.When it is desired to open the auxiliary door 27, the same is lifted until its socket 29 no longer is engaged with the upper edge of the lowermost panel 17 of the main door;

Thereupon the auxiliary door 27 may be swung to an open position on its hinges 30-31. The hinge elements 30-31 are slotted as shown at 32 for two reasons.

First, in order that the auxiliary door may be lifted as beforesaid, to disengage its socket 29 from the upper edge of the corresponding panel of the main door; and secondly, in order that the flexibility of the main door, as

the same traverses the curved ends 25' of thetracks 24 may not be interfered with by the presence of the hinge elements 3031.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a flexible door comprising upper and lower panels, the lower edge of the upper panel.

being bent upon itself to form a U-shaped socket which projects beyond one vertical face of the upper panel, the upper edge of the lower panel being loosely received in the socket; a hinge element secured to the upper panel above the socket; a hinge element secured to' the lower panel below the socket;

and a pintle uniting thehinge elements; the

hinge elements being oflset adjacent the pintle to clear the socket, and the pintle being located in a common horizontal plane and hinge elements 30- merit pane 5. In a device of the class described, ,a'

device of the classdescribed, a"

to the upper edge of the lower panel; and car carried means for guiding the door.

2. In a device of the class described, a. flexible door comprising a group of panels;

connection with-another of said panels; a hinge connected with the. auxiliary door;

and means for connecting the hinge-with one panel of the group for movement transversely of the pintle of the hinge, to permit a release of the lip and socket connection and to permit a swinging of the door.

means for pivotally connecting the. panels. with each other; an auxiliary door inter-... posed in one of said. panels and detachably united at its lower'edge by, a lip and socket 3. In a device of the class. described, a

. ating' members; and meansfor securing the 1 hinge to the other of said 'cooperatingmemswinging of the auxiliary door.

4. Ina. device of 'the class described, a door comprising a'group of hingedly connected panels; a. car with which the door coin one of the panels, the'auxiliary doorcomprising a socket receiving the longitudinal edge of another of said panels; andmeans .for connecting the auxlliary door with a 1 third panel of the group-for pivotal move- -ment and for movement parallel-tog the socket-engaged panel to permit a disengageof the socket from the socket engaged flexible door comprising panels"; an auxedge of one panel; and means for connecting the auxiliary door with the flexible'door for swinging movement, and -for movement parallel .to'the plane defined by the flexible door thereby to permit adisengagement of the socket fromsaid panel.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifixed my signature in the-presence of two witnesses.

WALTER w.- GREEN.

Witnesses:

JAMES E. GREEN, ARTHUR L. STUCKEY.

- bers for movement transversely of the pintle --of thev hinge, to permit arelease of the lip and socket connection and to permit a I operates and an auxiliarydoor interposed 'iliary door including a-socket. receiving one 

